I’ll start off my report from July 2012 when I first took over the Administrators role and I will go through the progress that has been made and the hurdles that have been overcome. I’ll start off with the Clubmark going dowanwards in no particular order. I may miss a few things that have been done and might not be mentioned but the majority of this report consists only of our major feats:

ClubMark

I took over initially to fix our ClubMark problem that we had no record of since we were granted ClubMark status in 2009. All records were lost with changes in management. All ECB Procedures and guidelines were implemented from scratch and with the help of Ian Moore and Qaisar. I was able to get us an extension on our assessment which is now due to be completed on the 31st of September. The only pending issue is the renewal of a new insurance cover for the club, quotes for which have been obtained and we will NOT be the first club in Middlesex to be refused ClubMark renewal from the state of affairs when I took over.

Security of Tenure – 25 Year Lease

I can proudly say after 2 council hearings, endless emails, phone calls and struggle for funding we now have secured a 25 year long lease to remain at these premises and do what we love. This 25 year lease ensures that Cricket will be played at Tentelow lane for the foreseeable future with COLTS and grassroots cricket as our highest priority. We have a duty to give back to the community and 25 years will ensure our long term objectives are well-structured and fruitful.

Organisational Structure

What I have learned from education and work is that an establishment can never survive without a robust structure of the right personnel in the right roles. We managed to implement that at the top, regardless of how robust it was we DID have a structure which the AGM 2013 will again assess and ascertain with the help of all our members. This existing structure enabled us to develop into an organisation and a lot of good things have happened since.

Bar Licence

We have never had the permission to sell alcohol here at Osterley CC. We now stand on the verge of getting our premises licence amended. I took the BIIAB course for the sale of alcohol and was granted a personal alcohol licence by the borough of Hillingdon and I am now allowed to permit the sale of alcohol here at Osterley CC which in-turn means an additional stream of income that will benefit the club.

Regarding the councils stance on amending our current premises licence the process was duly completed and the only hurdle left was the adjustment of the CCTV cameras to comply with the Police requirements and that was sent over 2 weeks ago and was put in place. We now wait on word from the council that can only be positive in respect to securing a Bar Licence for Osterley Cricket club which also fulfils one of the county leagues criteria of having a bar with relation to promotion.

Affiliation with Ealing Three Bridges – Primary School

We have had this school right on our door-step for so long and I am proud to say that we are now affiliated with Ealing Three Bridges Primary School. They have registered 40 new colts onto our database and all children that come out of that school willing to play cricket will be recommended straight to us. This affiliation or partnership can go a long way in sustaining our growth and involvement with the community along with the rewards that are attached to it.

Club Website

I’ll start off with a big thank you to Ali Irfan and his team (Qasim) who spent long hours of the night trying to bring this website up-to-scratch with me and we now have a sophisticated website that not only excels at communicating with our members, colts, parents, external bodies and organisations but it also enables us to be on top of all our information. We can now keep track of all information of our members especially colts who are ALL registered on the website unlike the adults. We also have a payment platform to take fees, subs and payments from people paying with cards. This website is one-of-its-kind and I am certain no club in the championship can boast that!

Add to the website our social presence and our social profiles where a big thank you is due to Sarim for being the club photographer this year we now have over 1600 followers on twitter and over 400 likes on Facebook which is ever growing and can only get better.

Grants

I have been actively applying for grants and funding opportunities with the help of Ian Moore and at present we have secured half the payment for our new NTP (Non-turf Pitch)(Lords Taverners, Middlesex Cricket Trust) with the remaining half to be paid by ECB and we have also applied for a larger grant with Lottery funding via Sport England that we are awaiting the decision for.

With all that said the future looks bright and promising with a great end to the season from all teams and especially the colts.

Dear parents and colts please note the winter indoor training sessions are starting from this Saturday at Featherstone Sports Centre. The address is: 11 Montague Waye, Southall UB2 5HF. The booking is for 10 consecutive weeks starting the 6th of January 2018 from 12pm to 2pm. The sessions will be conducted by Head Coach M Qaisar.

All colts MUST be registered online before attending any sessions. Parents are requested to complete all registrations before this weekend on:

Dear parents please note the winter training for colts has been booked at Featherstone Sports Hall at 11 Montague Waye, Southall UB2 5HF. It will commence on Saturday the 6th of January 2018 from 12pm to 2pm for 10 consecutive Saturdays.

Please make sure all colts are registered before attending any sessions. Each session will cost £2 which will cover our costs for the facility hire.